Daily GK Updates – 24th February 2015
1. Indian Eves Defeats The Girls Of Germany 2-1 In Valencia
i. In a hard fought match here, the Indian women’s hockey team emerged victorious 2-1 over Germany in what was 
the last match of their tour of Spain.
ii. Both teams started cautiously Sunday evening as neither wanted to give the initial edge to the other. The teams made attempts to strike but their efforts went in vain as the first half ended 0-0.
iii. It was Deepika who opened the scoring to help India surge ahead in the 40th minute by converting a field goal. Germany did not sit back and pressed hard in search of an equaliser but India displayed some spectacular stick work to dominate and keep possession. It was through the stick of Amandeep Singh, who converted a penalty corner in the 55th minute, giving India a 2-0 lead.
iv. Germany’s Marie Mavers finally broke the shackles and slapped the ball towards the nets to pump in their lone goal in the 59th minute. Unable to add further, the game ended in favour of India. The matches were in preparation for the World League Round 2 to be held in New Delhi from March 7 to 15.
2. NASA Sets Next $1 Billion New Frontiers Competition for 2016
i. Competition for the next mission in NASA’s New Frontiers line — a cost-capped class of $1 billion robotic solar-system explorers — will begin in 2016, NASA’s planetary science chief told an advisory panel Feb. 19 at NASA’s Ames 
Research Center in Mountain View, California.
ii. The long-awaited announcement of opportunity for the fourth New Frontiers competition will appear some time after Oct. 1, the start of the U.S. government’s 2016 fiscal year, NASA Planetary Science Division Director Jim Green told the Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG), an advisory panel NASA chartered in 2004 to set science priorities for exploration of the outer solar system.
iii. NASA is also looking ahead to the fifth New Frontiers competition, which would begin by 2020, Green added. If the timing holds, NASA would in theory be able to maintain the five-year launch cadence it established for the program in 2006, when the first New Frontiers missions, the New Horizons Pluto probe, blasted off on its looming encounter with the unexplored dwarf planet.
3. Justice Rana Bhagwandas; the first hindu Chief Justice of Pakistan passes away in Karachi
i. Rana Bhagwandas a senior judge and a former acting Chief Justice (CJ) of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (CJP) 
passed away on February 23, 2015 in Karachi. He was the first Hindu and second non-Muslim to head the reputed Supreme Court of Pakistan. The first non-Muslim to head the Supreme Court of Pakistan was Alvin Cornelius who was a Christian.
ii. Rana Bhagwandas passed away in the early hours of February 23, he was undergoing medical treatment for a heart ailment at a private hospital situated in Karachi, Pakistan.
iii. The Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, President Mamnoon Hussain and Chief Ministers of various states issued messages of condolences expressing sorrow over the sad demise of the eminent lawyer.
4. Indian Army and State Bank of India inked MoU on Defence Salary Package
i. The Indian Army and State Bank of India (SBI) on 23 February 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Defence Salary Package.
ii. The MoU is tailor-made to suit the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families. The revised MoU has incorporated a number of additional facilities and basic features of the MoU include
iii. Number of free/concessional services like free drafts, free cheque books, free funds transfers to any bank in India through RTGS / NEFT, free ATM cards and others
iv. The provision also includes the Nepal Express Remittance Scheme which enables instant fund transfers to Nepal for the benefit of the Nepali Domicile Gorkha Soldiers serving in the Indian Army.
5. Oil ministry suspends ONGC technical director Shashi Shankar
i. The oil ministry has suspended ONGC director (technical) Shashi Shankar over allegations of irregularities.
ii. The ministry on Tuesday wrote to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation that a disciplinary proceeding against Shankar is being contemplated.
iii. “The competent authority in exercise of the powers conferred under ONGC Conduct, Discipline and Appeal Rules, 1994, has placed Shashi Shankar, director (T&FS) ONGC, under suspension with immediate effect,” the company said in a regulatory filing.
6. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed likely to take oath as J&K CM on March 1
i. A PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, is likely to be sworn in on March 1 with the two parties sorting out all issues, including differences over AFSPA and Article 370.
ii. To give finishing touches to formalisation of the alliance, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti is likely to meet BJP president Amit Shah here on Wednesday after seven-week long negotiations between the two parties.
iii. It will be followed by a meeting between PDP patron Sayeed with Prime Minister Minister Narendra Modi later this week.
iv. The swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place on March 1, sources privy to the talks said here on Tuesday.
The sources said the swearing-in date was chosen keeping in mind that it is an ‘auspicious day’.
7. PSU banks, unions settle on 15% wage hike; strikes called off
i. Hundreds of thousands of bank employees, working largely for India’s dominant state-owned lenders, have called
off a planned four-day strike after agreeing a 15 percent wage increase, a senior union official said on Monday.
ii. The United Forum of Bank Unions, which says it represents nearly a million bank workers, had called for a strike starting Feb. 25, with demands including higher wages and a five-day work week. Banks in India operate on Saturdays.
iii. A strike would have paralysed some of the country’s largest banks, crippling cash transactions and cheque clearances in an economy where card payments are still unusual. It would have dampened money market and foreign exchange trading volumes, potentially increasing volatility.
iv. The protracted negotiation with unions is also a reminder of the complex task ahead as the government tries to reform India’s network of state-owned banks, which account for more than 70 percent of loans.
8. Documents leak: defence ministry staffer arrested
i. The leaks scandal got even bigger on Monday with police launching a probe into documents allegedly stolen from the defence ministry even as the crime branch arrested energy consultant Lokesh Sharma, a key player in the corporate espionage case, and questioned eight others.
ii. In what will have implications for the country’s security, police interrogated a defence ministry employee for more than six hours on Monday, highly placed sources told TOI. He has been identified as Virender, who is suspected to have leaked classified documents from the highly sensitive ministry and was in touch with some of the accused in the case.
iii. With classified defence documents coming into the probe ambit, cops could press for invoking the Official Secrets Act. Defence is the fourth ministry, after oil, coal and power, to enter the list of compromised departments.
iv. Meanwhile, police arrested 33-year-old Lokesh Sharma, who worked for Noida-based firm Infraline Energy and was leaking documents from the petroleum, coal and power ministries, JCP (crime) Ravindra Yadav said.
9. Japanese tsunami victims’ blanket makes Guinness record
i. A blanket measuring 464 square metres (4,994 square feet) stitched together by the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that rocked northeastern Japan in 2011 has entered the Guinness World Records 2015 as the largest one in the world, media reported Monday.
ii. It was the initiative of German knitter Bernd Kestler, a resident of Yokohama, who in April 2012 asked people over the internet to send knitted squares measuring 20 square centimetres for a blanket that would provide warmth and comfort to those affected by the disaster, Japan’s Kyodo agency reported.
iii. In over two years, around 11,000 of the pieces have been stitched together to complete the blanket.
iv. Kestler sewed the pieces with the help of disaster victims and volunteers at a gymnasium in Ishinomaki, in northeastern Miyagi prefecture, in September.
10. Chris Gayle hits first ever World Cup DOUBLE century as West Indies beat Zimbabwe
i. Gayle reached 200 off just 138 balls – finishing on 215 – as West Indies saw off Zimbabwe by 73 runs.
ii. The burly 35-year-old had come in for criticism from his own president but responded with an astonishing record-breaking double century.
iii. Gayle’s 372-run partnership with Marlon Samuels (133 not out) was also a one-day record.
iv. “It was a great team effort, our start was a bit shaky losing Smith early, so myself and Marlon had to consolidate,” he said.
11. FIFA taskforce recommends 2022 Qatar World Cup to be held in November-December – latest news and reaction
i. A FIFA task force on Tuesday recommended playing the tournament in Qatar at the end of the year in 2022 to avoid the summer heat. Temperatures in the Gulf emirate routinely top 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) when the World Cup traditionally kicks off in June.
ii. A Dec. 23 final in Doha is possible as FIFA aims to shorten the tournament from the current 32-day schedule to ease disruption for players, clubs and leagues worldwide. The plan should be approved by the FIFA executive committee, chaired by President Sepp Blatter, at a March 19-20 meeting in Zurich.
iii. Blatter, who is an IOC member, has long favored November-December to avoid clashing with the Winter Olympics, scheduled for February 2022. FIFA said its task force chose the “most viable period” over other proposals to play in January, April or May, dates favored mostly by European soccer officials.
12. Govt to introduce land acquisition bill in Lok Sabha today
i. The government on Tuesday tabled the Land Acquisition Bill in the Lok Sabha amid uproar by the opposition.
ii. Opposition parties walked out of the Lok Sabha after the government introduced the Land Acquisition Bill.
iii. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill 2015 will replace an ordinance which had been promulgated by the NDA government on December 30 last year.
iv. Introducing the bill, rural development minister Birender Singh said: “I have received the objections of the members but this can be discussed when the bill is taken into consideration.”
13. 14th Finance Commission: Government accepts recommendations; gives higher share to states in central taxes
i. Government has accepted the Finance Commission’s recommendations for a substantial hike in share of states in central taxes and asked them to tailor make schemes as per their needs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
ii. The Finance Commission had suggested raising share of states in central taxes to 42 per cent from current 32 per cent. As per the increased devolution suggested in the report of the 14th Finance Commission, the states will get Rs 3.48 lakh crore in 2014-15 and Rs 5.26 lakh crore in 2015-16.
iii. “Each recommendation has to be implemented for a period of 5 years. States can’t indefinitely look at New Delhi. They have to gradually become self-sufficient,” said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
iv. “The higher tax devolution will allow states greater autonomy in financing and designing of schemes as per their needs and requirements”.
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